[rusty_sojah]

i have an f33 convertible BTW.

no idea what to call it exactly so here is my description. Went for a drive, all windows worked up & down as normal, parked for a bit walked around, came back and rear right window would not roll down so i started to investigate. i pushed down on the window very slightly and it fell like 90% down under it's own weight. i pulled it back up and put back in place but it seems to no longer be attached to the base tract thing or however that process/hardware looks like.

when i press the up/down window switch i hear the motor working and what sounds like a small bit of broken glass moving around from that window, but the window won't move. i watched some videos and will be trying to take apart the trim to see and possibly get at the parts. but i don't really know what t should look like so if nothing immediately jumps out at me like this thing here IS broken, then i am a bit hesitant to start removing the rear window from the car completely for fear of not being able to get it all back in place secured properly, since I don't have a closing garage (just an open car port under the house, with lots of bugs ).

i'm hoping it is something simple or at least the problem will be very visible when i remove some pieces to get a decent look at it.

any idea what could be broken?

my working theory is that the window stopped going down, and when i tried to lower the top it looks like it puts the weight of the hard top on the top of the rear windows in its lowering process, and that weight somehow broke the bottom of the windows out from whatever pieces connect to the base/tract. If so I am guessing a new window and motor mechanism will be required. Only thing with this theory is that I can still hear a little mechanical whirring sound when i press that window switch up/down. what gives man??? thanks for any tips on this one.

[rusty_sojah]

I'm thinking it might be the window lifter or drive for window lifter; parts 1 and 2 on the diagram. Plus a new window??

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_9576

[rusty_sojah]

well after taking it apart seems it was just the metal wire/cable that pulls the windows up/down had come off the track and was making horrible noises. after replacing the cable and putting it all back together again it broke again after a couple test up & downs.

**pro tip, much easier to remove the window/lifter thing when the window itself is down or mostly down (also the top HAS to be down). normally though when the window fails the convertible top will not lower, so you have to use ISTA and put the hard top into maintenance mode or service mode. this allows you to step through each step of the lowering process and requires holding the button down until step completed, then releasing the button and holding it again, over and over through all of the steps. It took me over 30 minutes just to figure out how to do this and I didn't really ever find any instructions specific to this process so here is a screen shot of my ISTA for where those options are actually located at.

i ended up needing at a minimum a new lifter harness thingy (the thing that the windows glass mounts to, regulator?) since this is the thing with the wire tract mounted to it and mine was all ate up, and a new motor since I guess the motor wasn't properly working is my hunch.

not my regulator photo below, but mine looked very similar